Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Business Insider
Return

Samsung's latest smartphones bring back two features fans will love

The S7 and S7 Edge were announced last night in Barcelona and both look to previous models for inspiration.

SAMSUNG UNVEILED ITS new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones on Sunday during its MWC event in Barcelona,and we’re seeing the return of two fan-favorite features.

Water resistance

The Galaxy S7 is rated with “IP68″ dust and water-resistance, which means it can be submerged down to five feet underwater for up to 30 minutes.

That’s definitely good enough to protect the Galaxy S7 against accidental drops in the toilet or sink, rain, spills, and maybe even being pushed into the shallow end of the pool with your phone in your pocket.

The Galaxy S5 was Samsung’s last water-resistant phone, as Samsung ditched water resistance in the Galaxy S6 in favor of a sleek design.

Indeed, water-resistant materials meant the S5 was relatively bulky, and its charging port needed a water-resistant cover that many S5 owners complained would easily break off. As a result of breaking the charging port cover, the S5 was no longer water-resistant.

giphy Giphy Giphy

But Samsung seems to have figured out a way to keep the S7 water-resistant with a sleek design and without a flimsy charging port cover. We shot water directly into the S7′s charging port without damaging the phone at all.

Expandable storage

The microSD card slot for expandable storage is back in the Galaxy S7 after Samsung removed it in the Galaxy S6.

Expandable storage lets users store more pictures, videos, and music while keeping a phone’s built-in storage open for more apps.

assembly_bestfeatures_3.00_02_04_23.still001 Business Insider Business Insider

After making plastic phones while the competition moved on to premium materials, like glass and metal, Samsung was pressured to also make a phone with premium materials. And so it designed the S6 with glass and metal. The S6 was beautiful as a result, but it meant the back couldn’t be removed to give users access to a microSD card slot.

Samsung incorporated the microSD card slot into the SIM card tray instead of its usual place behind a removable back cover. You can add up to 200 GB of extra storage.

Antonio Villas-Boas

Read: A new monster of jobs listings is about to land in Ireland >

Read: This is how you can tell whether a smartphone is waterproof or not >

Published with permission from
Business Insider
Your Voice
Readers Comments
54
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.